Councils snub Mayor's £7.45 minimum wage

Only four London councils have agreed to pay their staff the Mayor's increased minimum wage - the London Living Wage - it was revealed today.

A survey found that the £7.45 an hour figure was only included in the official policies of Ealing, Lewisham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets councils. All but Ealing also apply it to contractors.

There is a national minimum wage of £5.73 but unions said that was not enough to live on in London and Boris Johnson introduced the new figure in July.

The survey was conducted by Green Party member of the London Assembly, Darren Johnson, who said: "It is a disgrace that only a few London councils have policies that safeguard their employees from poverty wages.

"I will be calling on the Mayor to encourage local London councils to implement a Living Wage policy for all their workers."

But a spokesman for London Councils which represents the 32 boroughs said: "Introducing the London Living Wage in organisations as structurally and politically complex as a London borough is a major undertaking."

A separate Evening Standard survey revealed more than 1,000 council workers had either lost their jobs or would do so in the next year and that last year 400 council workers in London earned more than £100,000.